The center will be run 24/7 by consultants who are veteran engineers with experience of more than 10 years. They will provide advice on the phone and online while directing the motorist in trouble to any one of the 800 Auto Q centers across the country.

Seoul, Korea, Aug 3 (Whowired) -- Kia Motors set out to establish a service system for its auto customers based on state-of-the-art information technology. In order to provide professional and customized services through telematics and smartphone technologies without the customer visiting its service partner Auto Q center in person, Kia Motors has renamed the emergency service team as the "smart consulting center" and kicked off the operation on August 2.

The center will be run 24/7 by consultants who are veteran engineers with experience of more than 10 years. They will provide advice on the phone and online while directing the motorist in trouble to any one of the 800 Auto Q centers across the country.

Separately, Kia Motors has created a new task force within the center specializing in responding to customer complaints such as overcharging or unnecessary repairs made by Auto Q centers. The new program will receive complaints and compensate the customer up to 300 percent of the overbilled amount after internal investigation. In addition, the company will provide a loaner car for the customer whose car is in the service center for warranty maintenance for more than one day.

Kia Motors is a pioneer in the area of using latest technology to improve customer service. Since May of this year, the company has provided a service based on the near-field communication (NFC) technology by which the customer can put her mobile phone close to the place where the NFC chip is embedded and is connected directly to Kia's service center.

A Kia Motors official said, "We have established the firm foundation for providing smart services for our customers. We will keep coming up with new service offerings to satisfy our customers' needs."

Jeansun Kim (press@whowired.com)